Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 89503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
And I’m supposed to be right here, with Markie in my arms.
EPILOGUE
Markie
Three weeks later …
“I told you,” Brooks says, pointing at me as he walks toward the fire. “You should’ve let me be your partner.”
“Excuse fucking me?” Jory says, lifting a brow.
Brooks laughs, sitting in a lawn chair next to him. “So, where’s the Guster?”
The fire crackles in front of us, casting a rosy glow across Gianna’s backyard. It’s our new favorite hobby—having a fire, a drink, and smores in the evenings. It will be one of the things I miss most about Sugar Creek.
Jory laces his fingers with mine. “Gus is fishing with his friends. He goes back to his mom’s next week. She’s going to come here and take him back with her since Markie can’t travel well on crutches. Deidre wants to meet Gus’s soon-to-be stepmom that she keeps hearing about.”
I know the smile on my face is goofy, but I can’t help it. I’m that fucking happy.
Deidre and I have spoken a couple of times on the phone since Gus came back from Ohio. She’s so sweet and such a doll. We’ve even texted a few memes back and forth, and I’m thrilled that we get along so well.
“And,” I say, smiling at my fiancé. “We decided to have a little wedding ceremony at my house before Gus leaves for Nevada.”
“What did you just say?” Astrid asks, her jaw hitting the ground.
Gianna, Nettie, and Audrey all turn toward me.
“Mira already knows this, so she won’t care that I’m telling you now,” I say. “But Jory and I are getting married next Friday.”
“Oh, my gosh,” Nettie says. “Markie! That’s amazing. Congrats!”
“Thank you.”
“Ring?” Gianna asks, side-eyeing Jory.
“It’s getting sized. Relax,” he tells her, making everyone—but Gianna—laugh.
The ring’s stunning and more than I expected. I had to see a specialist in Nashville last week because the doctor wanted a second opinion on whether I needed surgery. The ankle’s not healing as they thought. While we were there, I saw his apartment—where we’ll be living once we leave here this winter for the rugby season—and we went to a jewelry store. Siggy’s was where Drake found Gianna’s ring and now where Jory found one perfect for me.
“Where did the guys go?” Gianna asks, just noticing that Drake, Gray, and Hartley left about a half hour ago.
“They’ll be back,” Brooks says, trying not to give away that something is brewing.
“But, where did they go?” she asks again.
Brooks takes a long swig of his beer. “Hell if I know.”
“You’re a liar, Brooks Dempsey.”
“What a terrible accusation to throw around.”
I listen to them argue like siblings, which is always amusing, and then, in the distance, I spot Hartley’s truck coming up the drive. Gianna notices it, too, and grows suspicious.
“Guys, what’s going on?” she asks, with a hand on her hip.
The truck comes around the back of the house making a wide circle around the firepit. Gray, Mira, and Hartley get out of the front, and Drake gets out of the back … with a piglet.
“Oh, my gosh. No, you didn’t!” she squeals, making a beeline for Drake. “That better be mine.” She stops a few feet away. “You’re so cute. Look at you.”
“Do you want to hold her?” Drake asks, smirking.
“No. Not even a little bit.”
“Then why did you want one?” Astrid asks, laughing. “I don’t understand the logic.”
“Because it’s cute and we can form a friendship. And it can eat our food waste. And … stuff.”
Nettie and I exchange a smile.
“What’s that around its neck?” Audrey asks. “It’s blue, I think.”
Drake pretends to try to find the box that’s secretly in his hand. “I don’t see it.”
“It’s right there—no.” Gianna covers her mouth, jumping backward. “You are not.”
Drake hands the pig to Hartley, then he drops to one knee.
“Drake …” Gianna says, bouncing on her toes. “It took you long enough.”
We all laugh at her reaction as Drake opens the box.
“You, Miss Bardot, are the love of my life,” Drake says. “I love the life we’re building together, and the way you can destroy a kitchen, and how I never know what art supplies will be all over the floor in the morning. You keep things interesting and beautiful, and I’d be honored if you’d be my wife.”
“Yes. Yes, yes, yes!” She squeals, throwing her arms around Drake’s neck. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he says, taking the ring out and slipping it onto her finger.
I clap, and the others follow along.
Something else is going on, and I can’t figure out what it is. But Mira is smiling a little too big. Hartley is a little too close to her, and Brooks is grinning like a loon with Audrey on his lap.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Gianna and Drake look over as we all kind of watch each other suspiciously.
Audrey and Mira exchange a smile.